


The Multiverse

by cleo4u2, xantissa



Series: Honeypot [5]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: ABO dynamics, Alpha!Steve, Alternate Dimensions, Crossover, Kid Fic, Multiple Bucky's, Multiple Clint's and everyone fucking else, Omega!Bucky, Sasha!Bucky, There's multiple Steve's, because that's how a multiverse works, cap!steve - Freeform, heat stroke verse meets honeypot verse, intentionally left characters blank because wtf, mentions of mpreg, multiple versions of everyone, universe hopping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-06-11 00:16:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15303240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cleo4u2/pseuds/cleo4u2, https://archiveofourown.org/users/xantissa/pseuds/xantissa
Summary: Steve enjoyed the TV show Sliders. He did not want toliveit.





	The Multiverse

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Мультивселенная](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16937241) by [Saysly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saysly/pseuds/Saysly)



> All hail our beta, [NurseDarry](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NurseDarry/profile). OBEY THE GLOW CLOUD!
> 
> You do not need to have read Heat Stroke or Heat Forged to understand this fic. You will need to be caught up with Honeypot because this fic will center around the Steve and Bucky from the Honeypot series.

“Do you think he can install a taser attachment?” Bucky mused aloud. “Like Natalia’s Widow Cuff?”

“Just what you need,” Steve said dryly, “another way to knock someone unconscious.”

“Or give them initiative to wake up,” Bucky said with a smirk. He loved all his toys. The prospect of getting a new one was exciting. That Sai had given him a voucher for customized throwing knives on his birthday had been extremely moving. The boy had picked one of the best, too, and Bucky had gotten a set of six blades cast specifically for his hands. He had them on him now, though he didn’t have on much else.

Bucky tried no to dwell on his vulnerability.

Steve leaned against Bucky’s side, staring up at the numbers as they grew bigger the higher the elevator climbed.

“I’m still surprised you’re letting him tinker with your arm.”

Bucky grimaced. He wasn't sure why he had agreed to it. For years, nobody had touched his arm but him, but the truth was that the arm needed upkeep. It served him well, but he had to admit that it wasn’t quite as responsive as it could be. Tony wasn’t a bad choice, either. A genius in his own right, he had proved to be a friend to Steve and had helped after they’d gotten Steve out of the Raft. Naively, Bucky thought that getting his lover out would be the end of the ordeal. It hadn’t been. Between the extensive medical treatment needed to put Steve’s organs back where they were supposed to be, ensuring Steve healed properly, the need for a place to lay low, _and_ somebody to mitigate the consequences of Bucky’s raging against the U.S. government, Tony had been a true savior. He had provided them with the best medical specialists, an all but untouchable safehouse, and a vicious team of lawyers that had swept Bucky’s every action under the rug while making the other side look like cads for trying to prosecute him. 

And, maybe, Bucky was starting to like the snarky engineer. Just a little.

“He really wanted a look at the arm -”

“Duh,” Steve said. 

Bucky ignored him as he channeled Sai. 

“- and he might be a good replacement for the former Hydra techs who taught me basic maintenance.”

“Might?” 

Steve’s elbow was very pointy when it met Bucky’s ribs.

“Is better,” Bucky corrected dutifully, even if he also rolled his eyes. 

Eye rolling or not, Steve rewarded him with a quick cheek kiss.

“I’m proud of you for trusting someone.”

Bucky trusted Tony with Steve’s safety. The arm was nothing in comparison.

“Hey, Clint,” Steve said as they stepped off the elevator. “Wasn’t expecting you here.”

The archer was squatting on a table against a back wall, a bag of Cheetos in one hand. He waved at them, fingers stained orange from the spicy powder. Someone had punched him recently, as a butterfly bandage was holding his eyebrow together.

“Hey guys,” Clint said, “I have a bet with Natasha that Tony blows up something today.”

“What’s in it for you?” Bucky asked. Tony hadn’t looked up from where his head was inside a large box, cables and wires spilling out about him on all sides. A spark of white electricity shot about inside, so Bucky figured Tony wasn’t insulted. He didn’t want Tony to blow anything up if the bet wasn’t a good one.

“She has to house-sit for Lucky next time I need it.”

“And for her?”

Clint made a face and crunched viciously down on a Cheeto.

“I have to house-sit for Liho. That cat,” Clint waved the bitten off snack, orange crumbs flying through the air, “is the devil. Tony _will_ blow something up today and I will be here to witness it.”

“Rules?” Bucky asked, watching Steve grab Tony’s chair, sit, and push his way back over to Bucky because apparently walking was too difficult for a super-soldier.

“No interference,” Clint said, “No touching anything. Tony made me a safe space, and JARVIS is recording.”

“Who do you want to win, Tony?” Steve asked.

Tony’s muffled reply was, “I haven’t decided,” because the guy may have been a genius, but he was seriously fucking crazy.

They were all laughing as Tony suddenly said, “Uh oh.” 

Bucky threw himself at Steve. They collided and Steve didn’t resist, letting Bucky pull him flat to the floor. Then there was pain and the universe tried to tear them apart. It flipped the switch in Sasha’s brain that moved him from Bucky to Sasha in an instant. He was rolling into a fighting crouch before his head had processed what had happened. Except… 

Sasha looked around, checking what his eyes told him, flesh hand closed around the hilt of the Mark II previously tucked into his boot..

 _Nothing_ had happened. They were still in Tony’s lab with no signs of the explosion except for the ringing in his ears. Steve was on his feet as well, but there was no sign of Tony or Clint. 

“Tony?” Steve called. “Clint?”

A table piled with tools said, “Ow,” and Clint’s hand appeared in Sasha’s line of sight.

“Captain,” JARVIS said, “it appears that Hawkeye has sustained a serious concussion. Immediate medical assistance is recommended.”

“Then call an ambulance!” Steve shouted.

“Captain, if I may suggest,” JARVIS said politely, “a trip to the Tower infirmary would be more expedient.”

“The Tower what?” Steve repeated, looking at Sasha as if _he_ understood what Tony did with his Tower.

Sasha met Steve’s eyes for a moment, angry that Steve had left his shield in the common room when they had arrived. His instincts were screaming at him, making his arm recalibrate so that the plates tightened into a hard, impenetrable surface. 

“Right,” Steve said, rolling his shoulders and shifting into leadership-mode, “I’ll get Clint. JARVIS, show us the way to this infirmary. Sasha,” he added, voice softer, “take point. I don’t trust this.”

“I think I blew out one of my hearing aids,” Clint called. Sasha frowned; he hadn’t stood up yet.

Sasha went to the sliding door of the lab as Steve ducked behind the table to get Clint. When the doors slid open, he exhaled in relief even as he put his body in the entryway. Only with the way secure did he turn back to watch Steve throw Clint bodily over his shoulder. He wasn’t going to risk those doors closing before all three of them were out.

“Man, I hate being a potato sack,” Clint grumbled, but Sasha could see he was injured fairly severely. Most of his clothing was burned away and he was bleeding, though Sasha couldn’t tell how bad it was. The serious problem would be any internal injuries, if he’d been as close to the center of the blast as Sasha remembered.

Clint’s weight was nothing though, and the infirmary was close on hand so Sasha gave Steve an appreciative glance as he watched him walk towards him. Only for a moment though. He had other things to watch. 

The corridor in front of them stretched in two directions and Sasha had no idea which one to choose. As ridiculous as it seemed, this Tower was not their Tower, evidenced by Tony’s absence and now this. _Their_ Tower had only one corridor, leading straight to the elevator. Wherever they were, it wasn’t Tony’s home.

“Which way?” he grunted and was wholly unsurprised to see a line of lights light up on the floor, leading left. 

Sasha led the way, hands itching for his guns. Which he didn’t have as Steve had given him a speech about wanting Sasha to get along with the Avengers. The three knives he had on him were all he’d felt comfortable bringing and he wasn’t _ever_ going to try to be nice again. Body armor and full armament whenever he got within a hundred meters of the Tower. For fuck’s sake, it was just supposed to be a quick visit to see if Tony could actually upgrade the arm. Not… _this_.

The lights continued to guide them, all the way to the elevator. The doors slid open as they reached them, and Sasha tensed. The figure in the cab was just Natasha, however, so he was able to relax a fraction.

 

“Boys,” she said with a small smirk, “I thought you’d gone to the park.” Then she did a double-take, noticing Clint for the first time. “Holy - Clint? The hell happened?”

“Tony happened,” Steve grumbled as he bullied his way into the elevator with his burden.

“I’m fine,” Clint lied.

Sasha was watching Natasha closely enough he saw the moment her nostrils flared and her pupils dilated. He launched himself at the same time she did; her hand went for the back of her short jacket - a holster, his brain supplied - while his metal one went for her throat. The lift was a small enough that, once he was close enough to touch her, a gun would be useless. Natasha tried to twist away, put her forearm between them to save her neck, but Sasha wasn’t going to let her, whoever she was.

“Sasha!” Steve shouted, but Sasha ignored him. He was locked with Natasha - or her double, and knew if he hesitated, or dropped his guard, she’d kill them all. That’s how he’d trained her.

The threatening crush of his metal fingers about her throat wasn’t enough. Natasha got her own fingers between her neck and his hand, enough that she could get away if he wasn’t careful. He slammed his whole bulk against her, taking away that leverage and pressed until he felt her ribs contract as the air was knocked out of her.

“If you attack us, I will kill you,” he snarled in Russian.

“Who the fuck are you?” Natasha asked, wheezing, but he only gave her enough air to keep her conscious. He wasn’t fool enough to underestimate her.

“Who are _you_?” Steve returned. “Because the Natasha I know would _never_ attack us when Clint’s hurt.”

“That’s not Barton,” Natasha said, her lips curling into a snarl. “JARVIS! Code Red!”

Before she could say more, Sasha slammed her head back against the metal wall of the elevator, hard enough there was a dent left in the paneling. Natasha slumped, unconscious, but the damage was done. Red lights flashed, the elevator slammed to a stop, and an alarm began to sound from a distance.

Swearing, Steve said, “JARVIS! Clint does not have time for this!”

“Pardon me, Captain,” JARVIS said calmly. “I’m sure Sir will be here shortly to sort this out. I’ve informed him of the emergency.”

“Tony, who’s missing,” Steve said, but he wasn’t really talking to anyone. With a sigh, he focused on Sasha. “Thoughts?”

“Get ready to fight,” Sasha said.

“That’s what I thought,” Steve said, then carefully lowered Clint to the floor, his back against the button panel. It was a good position, out of the way once the doors opened. 

“JARVIS,” Sasha said as he switched his grip on the hilt of his Mark II, “all we want is medical help for Clint. If you choose to attack us, I will tear this whole place apart.”

“I will alert Sir of your threat, Sergeant Barnes.”

Steve sighed.

“Swell.” Then he looked around the small space, frowned, and carefully stradled Clint’s hips. “I got right, you take left?”

“Left is good for me.”

The intercom buzzed and Tony’s voice said, “Hey, guys, why does JARVIS say you’ve bashed Natasha’s head in?”

“She tried to fire on us, Tony,” Steve replied, though he didn’t drop his fighting stance. “Clint is hurt. He needs a doctor.”

“Clint is fine,” Clint’s voice said from the ceiling, and Sasha had to double-check that Clint, sitting on the floor of the elevator, hadn’t said it.

“Clint is fine,” their Clint whispered.

Sasha growled, unhappy with the delay and the way Steve’s shoulders tensed. He looked up at the ceiling, and balled up his metal fist.

“JARVIS is the one who pointed out Clint _is not fine_ ,” Steve snapped. “He could be _dying_. Get this thing moving, Tony!” Steve looked at Sasha and his jaw clenched. “Or Bucky is going to tear us a way out.”

It was all the permission Sasha needed. He launched himself at the wall, kicked off it, and slammed his metal fist into the ceiling panels. There was a jarring screech as the metal plating gave before his assault. Jagged edges rippled outwards and he fell down, eyes on the ceiling. 

Now there was something to grab on to if he needed to continue.

“Okay! Okay!” Tony hollered through the undamaged speaker. “We’re bringing you down to the infirmary. Doctors are waiting for… _Clint_ and Natasha -”

“Clint is fine,” their Clint mumbled, but the words were starting to slur. Sasha noticed Steve casting a guilty glance at the woman on the floor and growled wordlessly.

“She looks so fragile,” Steve said, answering his unspoken objection.

“Whether or not Clint is fine,” Tony carried on, “they’ll be here to check on him and we can… figure this all out. Alright? Friendly like?”

Steve grimaced.

“Alright.” 

Sasha didn’t lower his guard, but he did tuck his knife back into his boot. The set of Steve’s shoulders, the expression as he agreed, said he wasn’t ignoring the possibility that this would end in violence. For the moment, he had a hostage within reach, so if they were being double-crossed he wouldn’t need the knife. After they took Clint and ‘Natasha’ to this infirmary, it would be another story, but if this Tony was working in good faith, it might be fine.

Might.

“I know,” Steve said softly, “I don’t like it either.”

“I know we can fight our way out of here if need be,” Sasha said under his breath.

“But Clint needs a doctor,” Steve argued. “We need this to work… non-violently, if at all possible.”

“As long as they don’t aim for you, I am all for peaceful resolutions.” Sasha looked at the hole in the ceiling again. “If they do...” he was going to start killing until he wiped this place clean. It wasn’t something that had to be said, either. He’d done it before.

“I know,” Steve said again, smiling at him fondly. “No one will stop the protector of my begonias.”

As if on cue, Sasha’s eyes slid down to Steve’s chest and stopped at his pecs.

“You’ve got pretty awesome begonias.”

“Oh god,” Clint slurred, “make the grandpa flirting stop!”

Steve snorted, but they both tensed as the elevator began to move. They waited, ready to fight until the doors opened again. No one fired, no one charged in. There was an awkward silence, filled with only the shifting of feet out in the hall. Because he knew Steve would move if he didn’t, Sasha darted his head around the corner and back. What he saw wasn’t too surprising. Four people in white coats, and another six with guns at the ready. 

Sasha growled in his throat and Steve tensed even more when he took his own look, his stunning musculature even more defined. There were two gurneys waiting, obviously for Clint and Natasha, a little to the side, but close enough to protect the doctors if need be. 

Quickly, Sasha measured the guards. They were well trained with solid stances and calm breathing; well prepared, but not the biggest threat. The man standing between them, though, was what made Sasha do a double-take.

“Hey there, ceiling menace,” Clint’s double said with a smirk, “How’s it going?”

He was a little bigger than their Clint, with a tad more muscle on him. There was also a small scar on his right temple that their Clint didn’t have. His hair was cut shorter, closer to a military buzz than the messy mop their Clint sported. They were not identical, and that made Sasha all the more uneasy. He would have felt better with someone attempting to impersonate Clint down to every detail.

“We’d like it better if you’d drop the draw on that bow,” Steve said slowly, but he wasn’t paying attention to the guards at all. His eyes were on the doctors, darting and nervous.

“Whoa,” Clint’s voice came from Sasha’s side, and their archer stumbled to his feet and out into the hall, “that’s not normal.” He listed to the left with every step, indicating there might be something wrong with his inner ear.

The odd Clint opened his mouth, closed it, and frowned.

“Tony? He looks like me.”

“Can we…?” one of the doctors said, stepping nervously forward.

Steve darted toward Sasha, then slightly behind him, but said, “Yeah.”

Sasha shifted so his left arm faced the group, and made the arm recalibrate as loudly as possible. The whine of it powering up, then depowering rapidly, served to focus attention on him as well as distract Steve. It didn’t hurt that he liked how threatening it looked and sounded.

The doctors thankfully didn’t come closer, skirting around them to load both Clint - “I’m fine, really,” - and Natasha onto the gurneys. 

“We should stay near Clint,” Steve said, but he didn’t make any move to follow the doctors.

“Take the rear,” Sasha said before taking a large step forward. He pulled even with the first gourney. The doctor, a man in his fifties and a woman barely thirty, tensed, but remained professional. Sasha assessed their equipment, confident that he would be able to recognize any signs of tampering. Between the torture he’d gone through and that he’d forced on others, he was experienced with first aid and triaging. “No injections without consulting me.”

“Um,” The woman looked to her companion, but he didn’t seem at all phased by the demand.

“Sure. We’re going to start with an MRI.”

Sasha nodded. That made sense, especially with how badly Clint had been listing. 

Though, he didn't look back, he could hear Steve’s light steps behind him. No matter how uneasy, how close to a flashback Steve was, Sasha was confident he would guard their backs. There wasn’t anyone he trusted more.

“Doc,” Clint slurred, “I’m seein’ double.”

“Me, too, pal,” the Hawkeye guarding the doctors said.

“Think how I’m feeling,” Sasha grumbled. “There’s two of you.”

“The world can’t take two of me,” Clint slurred. “The Russians will lose it.”

“The Russians?” Steve repeated.

“Oh yeah,” the Clint look-alike said, “Russians are bad news.”

“Bad news, bro,” their Clint agreed with a _horrendous_ Russian accent.

The look-alike Clint - Hawkeye, Sasha decided - laughed, then said, “Tony, I think he’s me.”

“You don’t say.” Tony said over the intercom.

“No, he did say,” Clint slurred.

“I see…” Tony said slowly.

Sasha cuffed Clint on the foot. It wasn’t the time to be snarky. He could never understand why the Avengers were so talkative. To him, a mission mindset meant quiet focus, a mind clear of any distractions. He couldn’t work with so much chatter. Even Sai was better trained that this.

“At least Sasha’s still Debby Downer,” Clint slurred. Sasha really wanted to growl at him, but he didn’t want anyone to get itchy trigger fingers either.

“Sasha?” Hawkeye asked.

Sasha raised his metal hand to wave his fingers in the air, admitting it was his name.

“Why don’t you know that?” Steve asked.

“Ours goes by Bucky,” Hawkeye offered, pointing at Sasha.

“That too,” Sasha agreed, raising his hand again.

“‘Ours’?” Steve repeated. “What does that mean?”

“Ain’t it obvious?” Hawkeye said. “You’re not our Steve and Bucky.”

“That actually makes sense,” Tony said from the ceiling in the tone of voice that meant he’d been in his lab for three days straight.

“How can that possibly make sense?” Sasha said as they reached the medical facilities and doctors rushed to prepare the MRI machine. One offered him the bottle with the contrast to check it out. He knew that stuff by heart, so he sniffed the contents of the bottle. His sinuses protested the same way as always, so he nodded at the doctors to inject Clint with it.

“You did appear in my lab,” Tony said wryly.

It was the sigh from Steve that pulled Sasha’s attention back towards his lover. Steve had two fingers pressed to the bridge of his nose, his eyes closed with an expression of eternal frustration.

“Are you working on something that can transport people to…” Steve looked around them. “here?”

“No,” Tony said, “Was your Tony working on something that could transport people across space? Open a wormhole perhaps? Teleportation?”

“I don’t know,” Steve sighed, dropping his hand. “I have no idea what he does most of the time.”

“You can’t be from the past or the future,” Hawkeye supplied, looking from Steve to Sasha and back. “You don’t smell right.” When neither Sasha, Clint, or Steve replied, Hawkeye said as if they were stupid, “You are not one of the possible designations?”

“Nooo,” Clint whispered, but not because of Hawkeye’s question. The doctors were moving him into the MRI.

“What are the designations?” Steve asked.

“Alpha, Beta, and Omega?”

Steve scowled as he said, “That’s not a real thing.”

Sasha blinked, hearing a particular tone in Steve’s voice that he was all but conditioned by now to respond. Somewhere there, under the skepticism and the pragmatism, there was a lower tone that meant Steve was finding something guiltily interesting.

“What’s not a real thing?” Sasha asked Steve.

“ABO,” Steve crossed his arms, pecs pushing against his shirt, “It’s… it’s made up. It’s fiction. It’s… porn.”

“Porn,” Sasha repeated slowly, sensing a kink his lover hadn't shared with him yet. He turned to better face Steve. “I’m interested in hearing more about this ABO.”

“No,” Steve flushed, then focused on Hawkeye. “Why are you trying to tell me that… that _ABO_ is a real thing.”

“I don’t know what ‘ABO’ is,” Hawkeye answered, “but there are three male designations, as well as three female designations. Alphas -”

“Testosterone-driven; stereotypical, toxic masculinity,” Steve said, eyes narrowed. “They have the ability to knot, which is why they usually pair with Omegas, who can take their knot.” Steve looked at Sasha and gestured as if to say, ‘See? Porn.’

Sasha raised his eyebrow. Was Steve trying to say something about him? He wasn't toxic in any way. What could he do that he was imminently attractive to people?

“That’s wrong in so many ways,” Hawkeye said, his voice clouded with amusement, “but close enough.”

“It can’t be,” Steve protested. “It was all about the porn, just a fantasy of the partner being easily available, trapped together, bodies in overdrive on hormones. There isn’t anything logical.”

“What’s not logical?” Steve’s voice came from behind them and Sasha whirled around. Then he did a double take. At first glance, the man coming towards them was Steve. The same face, the same high cheekbones, and clear line of his jaw. Eyes as blue as the sky. But he was also different in ways that made Sasha’s hair stand on end.

“What the _hell_ ,” the strange Steve and Sasha’s Steve said at the same time.

Now that the other Steve was close, Sasha could see that he was also bigger than his Steve. His shoulders were just a little bit wider, his musculature a bit more developed. Mostly, it was the way he walked. Steve, his Steve, was always overly conscious of his size, careful not to seem threatening without reason. This stranger didn’t. There was an unconscious arrogance to his stance, to the way his shoulders were pushed back a tiny bit, his chin up. It wasn’t just his bigger size that made Sasha’s instincts perk up and take notice, think _threat_ , it was the aura he projected. 

This time Sasha growled.

“Fascinating,” Tony said over the intercom.

For the first time in Sasha’s memory, Steve growled back. Ever since being kidnapped by Ross, he hated that word with a vicious passion. The white coated doctors scuttling around were likely not helping any.

“You’re not Steve,” _Sasha’s_ voice said, and another man joined not-Steve. A man with his face, staring at Steve. It was even more jarring than seeing Steve’s double. 

This version had long hair, but not as long as Sasha’s. A quick glance down revealed a silver hand poking from a black sleeve, so Sasha expected that the arm was the same, but the size wasn’t. This version was smaller. His whole build, really. While it was tight and muscular, it was still slimmer than Sasha’s. He was also prettier. Even Sasha could tell that the lines of his double’s face were more perfectly symmetrical than his, lips just a shade fuller and softer. Only the wary expression in his eyes was the same, an old, cold anger that had taken root too deep to ever be erased.

“Apparently,” Hawkeye drawled, “you’re _both_ here just for porn.”

“No,” Steve pointed a chastising finger at Hawkeye, “they’re not… these designations.”

“What the hell is going on?” not-Steve demanded.

“Alternate universe hopping,” Tony said, “They’re you, but not you.”

The Sasha look-alike _growled_ , but it wasn’t like anything Sasha had ever heard a human make. It was deep and guttural, like a large cat or a wolf, but angry and pissed off. It was far too animalistic to be mistaken for human. Sasha was briefly jealous, but also appropriately impressed. It made sense that his counterpart would be impressive, even in this strange world.

“That’s… Okay,” Steve said slowly, “ABO is really a thing?”

Sasha narrowed his eyes at the way Steve was flushing and looking at his not-Sasha counterpart. Then the alternate version of _Steve_ growled, head lowering, knees bent, and Sasha quickly stepped in front of his lover and growled right back. It wasn’t nearly as threatening, or as loud, but he thought he got his point across. This guy wanted a go at Steve, and Sasha would rip off a few limbs if he tried.

“Jesus.” Hawkeye crossed to the Steve-look-alike and put his hand on the man’s shoulder while addressing Sasha. “You don’t just challenge an Alpha like that man, they have to answer an outright challenge.”

“He started it,” Sasha snarled, ignoring the glare and glaring right back. “I’ll finish it if I have to.” He shook out his metal hand, letting the arm start powering up again.

“Alpha?” Steve murmured from behind him, surprise filling his voice. “Um, uh - wow, okay. I’m not… trying to take your… Omega. I have my own Bucky.”

Sasha had to run the words through his head twice, before the meaning sunk in.

“Omega?” he asked, not truly getting the message yet. Steve’s words about the ‘Omega’ being the one that gets fucked because they can take the knot was giving him a bad feeling that there was something he was missing.

“You got a problem with that?” Bucky demanded, eyes narrowed. 

“I’m not sure what the fuck it means,” Sasha snapped, “other than there’s fucking involved.”

The other him snorted at that.

“That’s a surprisingly accurate description.”

“Bucky!” the other Steve yelped, turning to look at his... partner? with wounded eyes. At least the aggression was fading.

“Relax,” Bucky put his hand on the other Steve’s free shoulder and tugged, “I think if they had designations, it would be my counterpart that would be the Alpha. Give him a break.”

“Is it the Omega thing that makes you so tiny?” Sasha asked, looking his counterpart up and down. “And pretty?”

“Pretty?” Bucky repeated. 

“Well, you _are_ ,” the other Steve said slowly. “I keep sayin’...”

“Shut up,” Bucky grumbled. Louder he asked, “Now what?”

“Um,” his Steve said, laying a hand on Sasha’s back, “Clint got hurt when… Well, however the fuck we got here.”

“Natasha got hurt when the angry Bucky slammed her into the elevator wall,” Tony said

The other Steve looked from his Bucky to Sasha and back again. Then he asked dryly, “Which Bucky would that be?”

“Jesus christ,” Hawkeye said, “we need names. This is getting too ridiculous, even for me.”

“This is Sasha,” Steve said quickly, then waved to the prettier version of himself, “so he can be Bucky. I’ll be… Cap,” Steve sighed, but looked at his counterpart, “since it’s your world, you can keep the name.”

“Hawkguy!” their Clint shouted from the MRI machine.

“Aw, man,” Hawkeye groaned, “I wanted that.”

“I have a concussion. I win.”

Clint - not Hawkeye any more - rolled his eyes and patted Hawkeye on the shoulder. 

“Fine, fine.”

“Sorry for hurting your Natasha,” Cap - Sasha didn’t like thinking of him as that, but it made sense for a multitude of reasons - said from behind Sasha. He was always quicker to talk to people than Sasha. “She recognized us as not being you, and went for her weapons. We just acted in self defence. We never meant her any harm.”

“In our world, you don’t let a Black Widow pull a weapon on you,” Sasha added.

“Probably smart,” Bucky agreed.

“She’s going to be fine,” the doctor said before Steve could open his mouth. “Should be awake soon, actually.”

“As I see it,” Tony said over the intercom, “we need to sit down and talk, try to figure out what happened and how to fix it.”

“Where’s the sprog?” Clint asked Bucky.

“With the nanny,” Bucky gestured upward dismissively, “We can go see Tony; he’ll be fine.”

“If there’s no threat,” Steve argued, “we should get him. Bring him with us.”

Bucky blinked up at Steve, confusion clear on his face.

“Why?” 

Steve exhaled slowly and turned to look at his Bucky with the endlessly patient expression that Sasha was intimately familiar with.

“Because he’s our son and he doesn’t deserve to be foisted off on the nanny if we can take him with us.”

The sceptical expression Bucky wore was one Sasha imagined Cap knew by heart.

“Just wait till he starts to cry.”

“There’s a baby?” Cap whispered.

Like Steve and Bucky, Sasha turned to Cap. Steve was the only one who looked as excited as Cap, smiling broadly, a shine to his eyes. Bucky had this haunted expression that screamed, ‘Oh my god, another one,’ to Sasha. He kind of wanted to snort at seeing it, but the indecent excitement on his lover’s face was definitely killing his merriment. What the hell was going on? He knew his Steve liked Sai, they got along well after they’d gotten over the near-murder, but he had no idea Steve would go dewy-eyed over the mere mention of a baby. 

“He’s just a few months old,” Steve gushed, “but he’s beautiful. We named him George.” Sasha’s father was named George. It made him suck in a breath, oddly touched by the sentiment. “And he’s perfect.”

“Except when he’s keeping you up all night,” Bucky said.

Steve shrugged a shoulder, but didn’t drop the goofy grin.

“He’s still perfect.”

“A baby,” Cap whispered again.

“Oh my god,” Bucky said aloud this time, then turned on Steve, “I _cannot_ handle two of you.”

Sasha shook his head, but agreed. One he could take. Two? That was a too much, even for him. He caught the eye of Bucky and raised his eyebrow. He got an eye roll in response. 

Bucky sighed.

“I guess if you were the Omega we would already have ten of those. Thank God for small mercies.”

“Likely,” Cap said while grabbing Sasha’s hand and linking their fingers together. “Can I come… see George?”

“Sure,” Steve chuckled, “Bucky, you wanna take… Sasha to Tony?”

“Sure.” Bucky eyed Sasha, this time with a calculating gleam in his eye. “Damn, you are _big_.” He seemed hysterically pleased with the fact that his alternate version was stacked. Sasha smirked; it pleased him, too. Though, he did like how pretty his other self was, too.

“Try to keep the ego in check, ok?” Sasha’s lover murmured before he squeezed his hand hard, then followed after Steve. It was odd, seeing the few inches difference in height, but he was glad to have a moment away from them, if only because Cap launched into a dozen, rapid-fire questions as he walked with Steve back toward the elevator. 

Jesus. Babies.

Sasha was suddenly, fiercely glad his kid had been fully formed when he got him.

“Fine, just leave me,” Hawkeye slurred from inside the MRI machine. “Everything has to go through him, he says, before he _bails_.”

Frowning, Sasha opened his mouth, but this world’s Clint said, “Don’t worry bro, I got your back.”

“Ha! Got my own back!”

Sasha rolled his eyes, but followed Bucky as he turned down the hall. He watched his double in the gleaming reflections of all the stainless steel elements in the Tower. His walk, the way he held his body, all were indications of training. The arm was also an indication that their stories were probably similar.

“Did Hydra get you, too?” Sasha asked, after a long, quiet moment with just their feet padding down the hall. Though his paranoia didn’t like it, he dragged his eyes away from cataloging the myriad of different weapons hidden on the other man’s person to Bucky’s face. It wasn’t the first time he’d looked himself in the eye, but this was still different. 

Bucky didn’t show a reaction besides a flicker of his eyes that meant he was probably watching Sasha just as carefully.

“In the Forties. Nobody cared what happened to a few grunts that had gone MIA during the war.”

Sasha blinked.

“Steve cared. He saved the people taken at Azzano.”

Bucky turned to face him, a bitter twist to his lips.

“I know. He told me he saved some of the POW’s.”

Again, Sasha blinked, now in surprise.

“He _told_ you? He _saved_ us. Freed the Howling Commandos from the camp.”

Bucky stopped near one of the elevators.

“He never found me, or some of the others. Anybody who showed favorable results in the first round of shots were transferred to a different base weeks before Steve came for everyone else.”

A bitter aftertaste filled Sasha’s mouth.

“You never fought in the war at Steve’s side?”

Bucky shook his head.

“I met him only a year back, when Fury pulled me out of the Raft. He needed another enhanced soldier to team up with Steve. We didn’t know each other before.”

“The Raft? The underwater SHIELD prison?” Sasha growled.

“You know it?” Bucky asked.

Steve watched as Bucky pressed the buttons on the control panel of the elevator. It seemed that Tony’s workshop was on the same floor here as it was in their home. Homeworld? It was too strange to think in those terms.

“I nearly sank that place when they locked Steve in there.”

Bucky curled his lip.

“I really want to sink the wretched hellhole now.” Bucky shook his head, looking a little jealous. “Did you really know Steve during WWII?”

Sasha nodded.

“I don’t remember much, but the history is pretty well documented.”

“How can you not remember?” Bucky asked.

“The Chair.”

Bucky watched him with an expectant expression. When nothing more was forthcoming, he asked, “What chair?”

For a brief moment, Sasha stared, unable to imagine any version of himself with his mind, his memories, and personality intact.

Hoarsely, he said, “The one Hydra used to wipe my memories.”

Folding his arms, Bucky shook his head.

“Never heard of such a thing, but Hydra didn't need that. They just forced a bond on me and it didn't matter if I remembered my past or not, I had to obey.”

“What’s a bond?” he asked, unsure of the details. Steve - Cap - would have known, from whatever weird porn he’d been reading lately. They were going to have to talk about that.

“It’s so odd that you don’t know.” Bucky shook his head, then looked up as if trying to gather his thoughts. “Omegas go into heats. It’s a biological state induced by hormones to assure procreation. It basically means we go out of our minds for a period of time, and the goal is to create a chemical and psychological bond with an Alpha that has intercourse with us when we’re in heat. There needs to be a bite involved, too, but that’s the gist. Alphas have the ability to override an Omega’s will by using what is called Alpha Voice when we’re bonded.”

Sasha mulled that over the tidbits that Steve had let slip and what Bucky was saying.

“Hydra had lots of Alphas, didn't they?”

Bucky looked at Sasha with old eyes full of resentment.

“Seventy years’ worth.”

“You outlived them,” Sasha murmured watching the forcefully casual tilt of Bucky’s shoulders.

“I broke free eventually. Steve doesn't like to talk about it, but there are studies that assume that there is a spiritual component to the bonding. I guess, after a certain point, there just wasn't enough of that in me to be able to to form a bond. I got free only to realise that S.H.I.E.L.D. was the new Hydra, whether they knew it or not. I went on a bit of a spree that ended with Hydra in tatters and me in the Raft.”

Sasha winced. He couldn’t decide what was worse, his own fate of losing bits and pieces of himself to the Chair until there wasn't much human left, or the knowledge of self against the inability to act with somebody else's will superimposed over his own. Watching the endless, bitter anger raging just under the surface of Bucky’s eyes, he thought that he’d got an easier fate. All he needed to do was simply not try to remember, and he had a clean slate to work with. This version of him didn't have that luxury. He remembered every day of the seventy years he’d spent as a slave.

“How did you even manage to get with Steve after?” Sasha gestured with his hand to indicate everything that had happened to his counterpart under Hydra’s hands. “He’s an Alpha, right? Like the ones they used to control you?”

Bucky broke eye contact between them, a line of tension forming in his neck. He licked his lips before speaking, and Sasha would have said he felt guilty if someone had asked.

“It wasn’t easy. Not sure I was all that sane when we bonded, but overall? I don’t regret what I did.”

Sasha couldn’t believe how similar, yet different, their lives were. How much the little differences had changed things, yet they’d ended up the same way.

“Me and Steve?” Sasha said. “ _My_ Steve? We were easy, from the first moment we met. We fit in ways nobody else could. It was everything _else_ that was shitty.”

Bucky smiled wryly at him as the door opened and they stepped onto Tony’s floor. 

“So strange,” Bucky agreed. “How did you meet anyway?” 

The grin couldn’t be kept off Sasha’s face. He always enjoyed telling this part.

“I got caught in the honeypot operation he was running.”

Sure enough, Bucky tripped, then spun about, sputtering, “A honeypot? _Steve_? _Our_ Steve?”

Sasha’s grin grew even wider.

“Yep.”

“Wow.”

“I don’t believe it,” Tony declared. He was standing at the bank that projected his holograms into the air, reviewing the footage of their appearance in his lab. Even from far away, Sasha could see it had been a particularly large explosion. Like Bucky, he was smaller than Sasha was used to, with more grace to his lines. He had a natural beauty that couldn’t be denied, a symmetry and softness that drew the eye. 

“Omega?” Sasha asked.

“Rude,” Tony said.

“It is not,” Bucky quickly argued as they stopped behind Tony. The explosion played again, coming from seemingly midair and spitting the three of them out. “He can’t smell you.”

“Does that make smelling cheating?” Tony asked absently. “JARVIS, write that down.”

“Yes, Sir,” JARVIS said.

“What’s this?” Bucky asked.

“This is how our friends got here.” Tony still hadn’t turned around, was hyper-focused on the replay, slowing it down as it started over again. “Where’s your baby-daddy?”

Sasha shuddered. Baby-daddy, men giving birth; it was weird and unnatural.

“On his way with the spawn.”

“Mm,” Tony said, slowing the video down with a flick of his fingers so it played frame by frame. “Fascinating…” Without warning, he spun around on his heels to face them. “No doubt about it, that’s a dimensional tear in the universe.”

“You can see that from a video?” Sasha asked skeptically, watching the video as it started _again_ without any finger waving.

“No,” Tony said dismissively. “I can tell from you, your buddies, and your biology. That MRI scan will be all the proof I need, so it’s not really important _what_ happened. I need to figure out _why_.”

The expectant way Tony was staring at Sasha forced him to admit, “I have no idea.” Instantly, Tony’s eyebrows drew down and he scowled fiercely. “Well,” Sasha added quickly, “it’s not like you told us what you were doing. All you said was, ‘Uh oh,’ and the world blew up.”

“The world blew up?”

“It sure felt that way.”

The elevators opened and Sasha slowly closed his eyes when he heard one of the Steves literally _cooing_.

“Who’s the cutest baby boy ever? That’s right! _You’re_ the cutest baby boy!”

Under his breath, Bucky swore. “It took him a week to stop with the baby talk.”

“I’m not sure a week will be enough for mine,” Sasha said faintly, turning to watch his besotted lover fuss over a bundle in his arms. The bundle _squirmed_. 

They’d wrapped the baby in a blue blanket, so only its hands and face were visible. Not even the top of its head, thanks to an equally pastel blue knit cap covering even its ears. It stared up at Cap, squirming and gurgling - laughing? Sasha didn’t fucking know - as Cap _kept_ squeaking at it in a high-pitched voice. Steve was looking on with an equally fond expression, clearly as smitten with the spawn as Sasha’s lover.

“It’s like watching a train wreck,” Sasha murmured backing away.

“So Steve is just… like that?” Tony asked, his voice oddly defeated. “He’s just super-dad?”

“Seems so,” Bucky said, his tone one of resignation. “He wants more. He won’t _say_ he wants more, but he wants more.”

Tony’s mouth opened and closed as he looked to Bucky in horror, then whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

“Just get him some more,” Sasha said, “Not like there aren’t plenty of kids out there. It’s like how I got mine.” Even as he said it, it was occurring to him that _he_ might need to get more, too. And younger. Damn it.

Steve walked to Bucky and leaned against his shoulder, both him and Cap ignoring their conversation. Cap did the same to Sasha, leaning against him without even looking up. The soft, adoring expression on his face was one Sasha had to admit looked _really_ good on him. Even if it meant babies.

“Steve,” Sasha asked, clearing his throat, “do we need to adopt?”

“What are you talking about?” Cap asked, his voice high and bubbly, his gaze never leaving the baby. “We already did, didn’t we? Yes, we did!”

“You’ve lost him,” Tony said. “We’ve all lost him. He’s gone.”

“Shut up, Tony,” Steve said, but his voice was too fond to carry any weight. Sasha thought he might have to agree with Tony, though when Cap made a bubbling sound that had the baby letting out a shriek of laughter. Sasha backed up a step. Small kids were so very much not his thing. It was terrifying that Steve might want to adopt one. Why did he never notice that Steve was so gaga over kids? He was remarkably controlled with Sai.

Finally, Cap looked up at him.

“He’s not gonna bite, Sashka. He’s happy.”

“He’s also not following any normal rules, and there is no logic to his actions. And you just wait, he’s going to do much worse than bite.”

Across from him, Steve snorted. 

“I’ve had this conversation, lemme take this one.” Cap gave him a look, like he didn’t think his other self could handle Sasha, but carefully nodded. “The rules are pretty simple.” Holding up his fingers, he ticked them off one by one. “Eat, sleep, poop, attention. That’s pretty much it, and yeah, he’ll bite sooner or later, but I’ll call you a liar if you say you don’t appreciate the spirit and predator instinct.”

Steve was looking at him expectantly and Sasha didn’t like it. 

“What?”

“Go on. Ask.”

“Ask what?”

Bucky leaned harder on Steve’s shoulder.

“Stop harassing the man.”

Though he rolled his eyes, Steve gave in and said, “You don’t want to give him all your attention all the time. That’s fine. That’s what nannie and I - I mean him,” Steve waved at Cap, “are for.”

“That’s exactly what I’m for,” Cap burbled at the baby.

“He _is_ good at the creature wrangling,” Bucky confirmed giving his partner an embarrassingly soft look.

Sasha huffed. His counterpart was so gone for Steve. Anyone could see the way his defenses dropped whenever he looked at his lover, how his body language changed; the subtle thrum of aggression just dissolved when he was in Steve’s orbit. It was as if he forgot to be angry in favor of staring adoringly at Steve. 

Suddenly unsure of what his own face displayed, Sasha made it a point not to look at Cap. He loved Steve, had loved him from the very beginning, but was still uncomfortable with showing emotions. Even if talking to Bucky had been strangely easy, easier than anybody he’d met in a long while. 

Cap was still focused on the baby, his face glowing with happiness. Sasha wasn’t sure what to do with that. He didn't feel any desire for more kids than he already had. It simply didn’t touch him the way it seemed to touch Steve. The problem was, Sasha wanted Steve happy. He had just never expected that tiny humans would do the job. He wasn’t sure what to do about it.

As if reading his mind, Cap cooed to the baby, “We don’t need a baby to be happy, though, do we? You’re just so cute and tiny! Yes, you are!”

“I can’t handle it,” Bucky said sharply. Steve, however, just laughed at him.

“I can’t either,” Tony said. “Listen, we have _work_ to do? You know, to get you guys back where you came from?”

“Thank god for one sane person in the room,” Sasha muttered, turning to look at Tony hopefully. This seemed to be the person who was going to save him from cooing super-soldiers.

“I take offense at that,” Tony sniffed, but focused on Cap. “Anyway, if you’re done with… whatever that is,” a calloused hand waved in the general direction of baby George, “your mate says he doesn’t know what caused this. Do you?”

“Nope,” Steve said, once more not looking up. “You didn’t say.”

“Great-” Tony started to complain.

“- but I can draw the machine,” Cap went on as if Tony hadn’t opened his mouth.

Sasha nodded to himself. He knew how good Cap was with re-creating images from memory.

“You can?” Steve asked, sounding surprised.

Cap actually looked up at the question, looking at his other self with confusion.

“You can’t?”

“I, um,” Steve rubbed his head uncomfortably, “Not well enough Tony could use it for anything.”

For a moment, Cap stared at Steve, then frowned and walked over to him. Wordlessly, he handed over George. It seemed to be a statement of some kind, because Steve’s throat clicked when he swallowed, and he turned his whole focus on the baby, smiling and murmuring softly.

“He’s really good.” Sasha couldn’t help but praise his lover out loud. “Especially with sketches, but I like his watercolors more.”

“You’re biased,” Cap said, but kissed his cheek when he came back to Sasha’s side. “Do you have a graphics tablet lying around, Tony?”

“A what?” Tony said, sticking a finger in his ear and wriggling. 

“Tony,” Cap said, placing a hand over his heart and adopting a faux surprised expression, “you don’t know what a graphics tablet is? They’re incredible. I can show you as soon as you,” the expression dropped and Bucky snorted in amusement, “ _get me one_.”

Sasha was sure to keep his face blank. It wouldn’t be good to laugh himself sick at the expression on Tony’s face. Honestly, it was as if people didn't know that Steve’s wit could be as sharp as the edge of his shield.

“Er,” Tony managed, but JARVIS was faster.

“Cap,” the A.I. must have been following their naming system, “there is an unused tablet in the drawer to Sasha’s left.”

Since he was closer, Sasha turned, opened the drawer in question, and passed the device to Cap. Though he took it, he didn’t power it on. Instead, he held it out to Tony, finger above the power button and said cooly, “This is how you turn it on.”

Tony flushed and Cap smirked, having made his point. 

“How long will that take?” Steve asked.

“I’m not sure,” Cap answered, “it looked pretty complicated.”

“And it was sparking,” Sasha added. “Make sure to add the sparks.”

“No,” Cap drawled, powering on the device and looking for somewhere to sit, “I want to be stuck here and not give Tony all the details.”

Sasha huffed.

“You can turn the sass off now, kitten.”

“I _can_ ,” Cap started, but then smiled at Sasha, “Oh, alright.”

“Kitten?” Bucky marvelled, looking from Cap to Steve and back again. “Really?”

Defensively, Cap said, “I like it.”

“He purrs.” Sasha shrugged. “Seemed to fit.”

“I do not purr,” Steve said, defensive, but the edge blurred. Sasha suspected it was because he was holding George. “Unless you’re healing and there’s a baby involved.”

Bucky snorted from where he was watching them.

“I guess I’ll have to record the noises you make after you come.”

“For science,” Tony agreed.

Sasha couldn't help but be charmed by the way Steve flushed, just a bit of color at the top of his cheekbones, then huffed at Bucky.

“No recording devices in the bedroom!”

“So you admit it?”

“No, it's Schrodinger's purr, okay? It doesn't exist until you prove it does, and you won't, so I win _anyway_.”

Tony growled, “I should never teach you science.”

Cap had found a chest of tools to use as a chair. With one leg bent and tucked beneath him, he was poking away at the tablet, likely making sure the settings were to his liking. Sasha followed him, sitting close, but making sure he didn’t encroach on Cap’s elbows, or restrict his arm movements. The first few times he’d done that, Cap had been polite about it, but now he just used those pointy weapons to stab at Sasha’s sides.

“So you have a kid?”

It took Sasha a second to realize Steve was talking to him.

“You said, ‘When I got mine,’ when telling Bucky to give me another kid.”

“Oh,” Sasha shrugged, “His name is Sai. Got him on a mission for Hydra.”

“What?!” Bucky sounded… scandalized was not the right description. Murderously angry was much closer, but still didn’t do justice to the sheer rage in his voice.

Sasha looked at him, taken a back, before one plus one finally came up two.

“In our world, men can’t get pregnant. I meant I found him.”

“On a mission for _Hydra_ ,” Steve said, his voice dripping with disbelief. “And they just let you… keep him?”

Sasha smirked.

“Do I look like somebody who stops to ask permission?”

Steve frowned.

“I was under the assumption your world’s Hydra wouldn’t have given you permission to ask permission.”

“They didn’t,” Cap finally spoke up, “He’s being a shit.”

“Who?” Sasha demanded.

Cap didn’t even look up.

“You.”

“It's all true.” Sasha rolled his shoulders and positioned his crate so that his back was pressed to Cap’s. Steve and Bucky moved to stand in front of him, which Sasha appreciated more than he would let on. “I saw this kid being abused and decided that I wouldn’t have to ask permission if there was nobody alive to ask it from.”

“You didn’t _decide_ anything,” Cap argued. “You just did. You couldn’t make choices yet.”

Sasha elbowed Cap, but never got out his snarky, “Shut up.” Cap yelped and Sasha froze, eyes widening, as his lover slowly turned to glare at him.

“Look what you did!” Cap demanded, waving the tablet before his face. 

Strategically, Sasha did not look.

“You can fix it, kitten,” Sasha cooed, “You’re amazing.”

Cap glared as Bucky carefully cleared his throat. Then he spun around, huffed, and went back to work. Sasha let out a sigh of relief, having narrowly avoided having his head taken off.

Getting back on track, Sasha said, “Mine was fully functional though.” He pointed at the swaddled creature in Steve’s arms. “Not like yours.”

“He means Sai was older,” Cap added with a sigh. “I swear to God, Bucky, it’s like you can’t remember you had _four_ younger sisters, that _you_ helped raise. I know you remember! I remember! I… I remember, you remember!”

Tony burst out laughing, unable to contain himself any more. 

“Was too long ago, gone now,” Sasha said in a patently dishonest voice.

Cap growled.

“I have an eidetic memory and _I remember_ that you remember!”

“Oh my god,” Tony wheezed.

“Do you remember their faces?” Bucky asked quietly, looking at Sasha from the corner of his eye.

Tony instantly shut up.

“Faces?” Sasha repeated, taken aback by the question.

“I know I had sisters,” Bucky said, still avoiding direct eye contact. “I know my mom went to church every Sunday, and that my father owned a toy store. I know that, but I don’t… I don’t remember. Not their faces, not my mother’s voice. So. Do you remember them?”

Because he knew Sasha so well, knew he wouldn’t want to talk about his past with strangers about, Cap answered for him.

“Yes,” he said gently, actually looking up from his work to turn and look back at Bucky, “A few months ago, he got all his memories back. Hydra took most of them, but… there was an accident,” Sasha did not roll his eyes as Steve’s phrasing of a murder, “and now he remembers everything up until 1938 as if he lived it recently. His family, our friendship, living together -”

“Living together?” Steve squeaked. It was a very amusing sound coming from such a big man.

Sasha watched as Cap pushed the stylus he’d used to draw on the tablet back into the casing and turn the device towards Tony. The prettier version of their Tony craned his neck forward, eyes darting over the surface.

“Yeah, we were in love before the war.” Cap smiled dopily. “Never got around to getting our heads out of our asses and doing anything about it, but we -”

“Fucking shit on toast!” Tony shouted, startling everyone. “That’s the teleportation device I was working on, but got sidetracked by Chunky…”

“Chunky?” Sasha repeated, but Tony wasn’t really listening. 

“JARIVS!” Tony shouted, disappearing behind several stacks of crates. “Where is Project Portals?!”

“Long story,” Steve said at the same time as Bucky said, “Very long story.”

Drawing out the word, Cap said, “Okay…”

“You were saying…” Steve began, but Bucky growled.

“Yes, they knew each other before and during the war,” Bucky snapped. “Your fucking dream relationship.”

To Sasha’s surprise, Steve growled in return, then caught Bucky’s chin in his hand.

“Tell me how long I waited for you?” he said, the growl somehow burning beneath the words. “Tell me and say you’re not everything I want.”

Bucky didn’t answer, but he shifted, his throat tilting a little, and Steve dropped his hold. He nuzzled against Bucky’s jaw, then kissed his temple.

“... back to business,” Tony clapped his hands and then put his hands back on the handles of a very familiar cart.

“That’s the…. thing,” Cap finished lamely.

“Yes, Steven,” Tony said dryly, “The _thing_. And your Tony figured out how to finish it - or at least get you from your universe to mine. Give me a few hours, and I’ll have you universe hopping on your way home!”

“Universe… hopping?” Sasha repeated. He did _not_ like the sound of that.

**Author's Note:**

> Come and visit us on Tumblr
> 
> [xantissa](http://xantissa.tumblr.com)
> 
> [Cleo4u2](http://cleo4u2.tumblr.com)


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